


a little bump

by buck_begins



Series: Chimney Week 2020 [1]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Gen, tw: minor car accident, we just need more of these two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:02:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25816234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buck_begins/pseuds/buck_begins
Summary: There were some things in life Chim thought he had prepared for. He thought after all of his therapy after the accident he was going to be fine. He thought he was over any and all car accEverything was fine when he dealt with them at work, a sixteen car pile up was stressful but it didn’t trigger anything. Who would have thought it would have been a tiny fender with Karen would have been what set him off.Day 1: panic attack + hurt-comfort
Relationships: Howie "Chimney" Han & Karen Wilson
Series: Chimney Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1873105
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	a little bump

There were some things in life Chim thought he had prepared for. He thought after all of his therapy after the accident he was going to be fine. He thought he was over any and all car accEverything was fine when he dealt with them at work, a sixteen car pile up was stressful but it didn’t trigger anything. Who would have thought it would have been a tiny fender with Karen would have been what set him off.

Chim had asked Karen to go out shopping with him. In theory he knew what things a baby needed, but he was sure that he was undoubtedly forgetting things. Karen had two kids, that gave her at least twice the knowledge that Chim had. It was also just an excuse to hang out with a friend he hadn’t seen in a while. Between Hen and Karen getting Nia, and Chim and Maddie prepping for their new baby, life had just been heated for the two, not giving them time to meet up. Plus, there was a new restaurant he wanted to try out with her. They both loved their partners, but neither shared the appreciation for Thai food that Chim and Karen did. 

The day had been going so well. Chim was right, Karen did know about far more things that a baby would need. He got some of the generic stuff, and some outfits with firefighter jokes on them. Lunch had been great too, both adding it to their lists of favourite restaurants to go to. They got stuck in the start of L.A. traffic. It wasn’t the worst traffic either of them had been stuck in, but it was still annoying nonetheless. Chim didn’t see it coming, checking something on his phone. They were sitting at a light, waiting for it to change. The truck behind them almost stopped in time, but was off by about two feet. 

For Karen, it was a small jerk and an annoyance to her. She didn’t think much of it. She put her hazards on, and got out of the car to go and check for damage. She was oblivious to what was going on in the seat next to her.

Chim was frozen, scared to move. He felt his heart pounding, feeling like it was going to beat out of his chest. He felt a sharp pain in his head. It was like the rebar was going back through it. Some part of him knew that he wasn’t actually in that accident again, but he couldn’t get the thought of it out of his head. He knew he should get out of the car. He needed to try and get out of the situation, but he was still frozen. Still worried that moving would cause the rebar to shift, hurting him even further. He didn’t even notice when Karen got back in the car. 

“No damage to the car, luckily. It was just some teenager who just got their license.” Karen spoke as she buckled back in. When she looked over at Chim, she finally realized why he had been so quiet. She let out a soft “oh, shit” before driving them into a nearby parking lot. “Listen to my voice Howie. I’m here for you. You’re safe. You’re not stuck in the car.” She kept repeating the last three sentences, trying to reassure him. The main panic seemed to be dissipating, his breathing starting to even out again. 

“I didn’t think I would react like this.” Chim’s voice was small, as if he didn’t want to admit it to himself. He really thought he had made progress, but one tiny bump and he was sent back. The accident wasn’t something he thought about a ton. He liked to think at times he had moved completely past it, the only impact it still had on him was the scar on his forehead. He was wrong about that. 

Karen gave Chim a look that to anyone else would have seemed like pity, but it was one of sympathy. She knew how stressed out he was, worried about the baby and Maddie. A reaction like this wasn’t entirely out of the blue. “You never know how someone will react until they’re actually in the situation. You haven’t been in an accident in three years. Helping someone else out of one is completely different.” 

Chim took a moment to take her words in. She was right, as she normally was. Karen was a voice of reason in his life. “You’re right. I really just thought all of this was over. Thought I had moved onto the next major trauma in my life, but I guess not.” The most recent trauma had been with a crow, so maybe his brain wasn’t entirely counting that one.

“So here’s the plan, if you’re okay with it.” We’ll head back to my house. If you want, I’m sure Nia would enjoy some time with her Uncle Chim. If not, you can take a nap in the spare bedroom. Maddie should be off in two hours, and you guys can just stay for dinner. How does that sound.”

If Karen was not happily married to Hen and a lesbian, there were many times when Chim could have married her. This was one of those times. They headed back to the Wilson household, where Chim took Nia and sat on the couch. Nia was old enough to say sounds that kind of resembled words, but no official words first. Like they did with everything, the station had bet on what the first words were going to be. Chim kept trying to get her to mom, figuring that would be her first word. It didn’t take long before the two of them had passed out on the couch, Chim holding Nia in a way she wouldn’t roll off. If Karen and Hen took a few too many photos of the two and sent them to Maddie and the rest of the team, that was their business.


End file.
